Youkai Flesh
by Black And White Kirara
Summary: AU. Life changes forever for InuYasha Taisho when he meets Kagome Higurashi; a young, sixteen year old girl with a dark secret. Can the two stay together, or will those who persue them ruin their future? InuXKag.


_**Gomenasai, this is NOT the next installment of 'Starlight' - that's next week! Promise!**_

_**It's got to be annoying though when you're waiting for a story to be updated and the author keeps posting up something completely different, but like I said before, and I'm sure a lot of people can sympathise with me here - when a new idea comes to your head, it demands to be written! Or in many cases, typed up on the your dell laptop then posted on . That's my excuse.**_

_**Anyway, to make up for it, you can view a small preview of 'Starlight' on my deviantART account, if you want to. Link doesn't work, try typing in 'fallen-miko' and or 'Starlight preview' and see what you get.**_

_**To **__**samuraigirl666**__** and **__**Kagome In Love:**__**You two are among my most loyal reviewers and you always give such positive reviews, which makes me feel more guilty about not being able get that preview sent to you, as far as I know. If you did get it, I hope you enjoyed it! XD. If not, then I'm really, really sorry - I did try to send it through twice, but I think my PC was acting up or something... I dunno. If you did recieve it then fine, but if not I'm really sorry. Or you know, if it really doesn't matter either way I can say I've apologised :)**_

**O-O-O-O**

_Idea:__ AU. This fic is based on Rumiko Takahashi's other work; Mermaid Saga (or Mermaid's Flesh I think it's also referred to as), which is based off of an old Japanese folkltale that tells the tale of a woman who eats the flesh of a mermaid and becomes immortal - this is where I got the idea from. It will probably be different from Takahashi-sama's series. Or at least I'll try to make it as original as possible. I like the idea and thought I'd have a go at using it for an InuYasha fic - why not? It might be very successful... or a complete waste of reading. I'll never know unless I give it a try! So here it goes... It won't be a very long story, maybe 10 chaps at the most, or less even, but it could go on longer. _

**Rumic World** **- More info on the Mermaid Saga.**

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own either InuYasha or Mermaid's Flesh. Both belong to Rumiko Takahashi and her alone. **

**Enjoy! Let me know what you think please!**

**1. Occurrence**

InuYasha Taisho strolled casually through the great city streets of Tokyo, a stern and hard look set onto his features. To the rare onlooker, he was just a normal boy of seventeen. The city folk passed him by, took very little notice of him - he preffered it that way. Always a loner. He was happy to be alone, to go unnoticed.

He carried a large grey strap bag over his shoulder, and a matching grey cap adorned his head. His waist-long ebony hair shimmered in the afternoon sun as it blew with the wind in its braid; a small effort he'd made to look somewhat less noticeble than he already felt most people found him. His long and wild hair usually proved an irritating obstacle in his quest to become as inconspicuous as humanely possible.

His deep violet eyes were hidden under the shadow of his cap, helping the young man to avoid eye contact with those who passed by him. His clothes were just as dull and colourless as his cap and bag, with faded grey jeans and a faded red shirt.

Invisable. Inconspicuous. Unnoticed. _Alone. _That was how he wanted to appear to the world around him.

_'Sometimes it's just better to be this way, to be alone. When you're alone, nobody can hurt you...'_

Old memories flashed in his head, ones he'd sooner forget than recall. Ones of hurt and betrayal. Death and isolation. Gain and then loss.

Yes. Those were things InuYasha Taisho would sooner forget than recall.

But the memories wouldn't stop resurfacing...

_**"Cursed half breed!"**_

_**"Mama... mama where are you?! MAMA!"**_

_**"You betrayed us InuYasha! You betrayed ME! DIE InuYasha!" **_

So caught caught up in his musings was he, that he didn't notice the one passer by who chose that moment to trip and fall head first into his chest...

Out of sheer suprise, InuYasha yelped and fell backwards as the wind was knocked out of him, instinctively grabbing the arms of the one who'd crashed into him and landing flat on his back against the rock concrete. He groaned. _That_ was going to bruise later.

And all around him, people were now staring and whispering... Pointing...

_'Aw crap.'_

Unwanted attention. Perfect. Just what he wanted. _Keh. _

His violet irises spun round to stare at the one who currently lay toppled over him, slowly bracing their weight on their arms and starting to haul themselves off of him. InuYasha could tell by the flowery, feminine like smell that it was a woman who'd so stupidly ramned into him, but he could only just see the long oynx hair of her head as it mingled with his own from its current position on the path. When the woman finally managed to haul herself up with her hands (still straddling him with her lower torso and legs), InuYasha finally got a chance to direct a full on glare the woman's face.

But that glare instantly melted into a look surprise and awe as he got a good look at her.

She was absolutely beautiful, this woman. That long oynx hair elegantly falling around her shoulders and shaping her flawless face perfectly. Her eyes were of deep, warm chocolate brown, so big and full of emotion...

InuYasha felt his heartbeat speed up, and started fuming inside when he realised he was blushing.

How dare this woman do this to him?! She was making him feel like a puddle of mush with just a glance, and now people were MUTTERING! About HIM!

THEM!

He could feel the eyes of strangers boring into him and the woman.

He _hated _it when people would stop and stare at him with such accusing eyes. He felt like scum when they did it.

He directed a fiersome stare at the woman who'd been staring just as intently at him as he was at her just a few moments ago.

Once again, InuYasha's glare turned to a look of surprise.

The pretty-eyed, pretty-faced, and in all general pretty girl had fear in her wide eyes... tears of _fear. _

Now InuYasha felt bad. He hadn't looked that fierce had he?

"Kagome-sama!" "Get back here Kagome-sama!"

Quicker than he'd ever seen a human move, the young girl pulled herself off of him, sprang to her feet and took off at a run in the opposite direction, her blue knee length dress flying around her legs.

InuYasha sat up, doing his best to ignore the onlookers who continued to whisper.

_'What the hell was that?!'_

Three rather intimidating looking women suddenly sped past him. All tall and...cloaked?

"Get her!" "Don't let Kagome-sama get away!"

He put two and two together.

So... the girl who'd ran into him...

Was running away... from these women?

She'd looked so incredibly frightened before... was she really so terrified of those women?

He had no idea what was going on... but the instinct to protect (one that had been long buried inside him) suddenly coursed through his veins, spreading like wildfire.

He jumped to his feet, grabbed his one strap bag and made a mad dash off in the direction which the three women had just taken, following after the girl InuYasha could only assume was Kagome.

All around him, people were whispering now. For once, he didn't care. He only cared about finding that girl before those other women did.

And he had no idea why.

Comming to the end of the street, InuYasha was met with a scene of horror.

It happened so quickly. One minute, the girl, Kagome, was fine, still running, but fine, just darting across the busy road.

Next, there was a Goliath-sized truck heading straight towards her on the road, the driver failing to hit the breaks in time as time all around Kagome seemed to slow as she stood frozen in shock as the truck sped closer still towards her...

The three women who has been tailing her skidded to a stop, their eyes widening in terror, as did everyone's elses eyes in the street. Women screamed out in alarm, men yelled...

Absolute panic filled InuYasha's heart. He bellowed, louder than he had in many, many years.

"LOOK OUT!"

It was too late though.

Time stopped completely when the truck finally came to a stop, leaving Kagome's body in a heap on the road.

The screams around him got louder.

Moving faster than he could ever remember, InuYasha found himself sprinting to the girl's body that lay motionless on the road, kneeling down beside her and checking for a pulse frantically.

He found none.

_'No... No! Come on stupid girl! You gotta be okay!' _

She didn't stir...

He kept searching still for a pulse.

"There's no blood... She can't be dead! There isn't even any blood!" InuYasha heard a woman screech off from the sidewalk path.

Sirens could be heard gradually getting closer in the distance. InuYasha looked up, but for seconds only.

The three women who'd been persuing this Kagome girl... they were gone.

He didn't have time to dwell on that though.

"Come... Come on woman! Wake up!" InuYasha yelled into her face, holding her head in his arms.

She still didn't stir. A thin trickle of blood made its way out of the corner of her mouth.

Realisation was finally starting to dawn on InuYasha.

She was dead. The girl... Kagome was dead.

Yet another woman had died on him.

Despair started to fill him. Why was his life like this? Why did everyone he'd ever met have to die?

People were bustling around him in a blur, some panicking still, others moving aside to make room for the paremedics that were beginning to arrive.

InuYasha's bangs covered his violet eyes. He'd failed yet _another _person...

But it was then, that InuYasha felt something.

A pulse.

He looked wildy down at the girl's face. Her eyes, that were currently shut tight, were... twitching? Her lids were fluttering!

The girl's body was starting to feel warm again, not cold like death...

"Wha... What the hell?..."

She... she was alive?

She was alive!

Happiness filled InuYasha to the core. She wasn't dead! She was alive!

Then something else clicked in his brain.

But... she _had _been dead... he'd been so sure.

Hadn't she?

Quick as a flash of lightning, InuYasha gathered Kagome up into his arms, holding her sercurely to his chest.

An outraged man spoke from behind him.

"Oi you rotten punk! Put the poor girl down! She... she's dead..."

InuYasha yelled back over his shoulder.

"No... no kidding! I'm...gonna get her to the hospital!" And with that, InuYasha whirled round and sped off in a random direction, still holding Kagome tightly his arms.

He had no intention of taking the now stiring girl to the hospital.

She'd been dead... he was _sure _of it. For a whole six minutes.

It was impossible, but somehow she'd... been revived.

And though he knew it was impossible, InuYasha knew she'd be in trouble if he let those paramedics take her away and let them find out she was now alive somehow. The people in this era were afraid of things they didn't understand.

InuYasha wasn't sure what was going on, but this girl, who'd just died and somehow come back to life... would from now on be just as much of a loner as him.


End file.
